For one-half, Campus Magnet was on their way to one of the greatest upsets in school history. The seventh-seeded Bull-Dogs led No. 2 Boys & Girls by nine points in their PSAL Class AA quarterfinal last Saturday.
They were handling the press with aplomb, keeping the speedy Kangaroos in a half court game while their two big men - Khalil McDonald (14 points) and Kyle O’Quinn (10) - were creating havoc in the paint.
Unfortunately, there was still 16 minutes of basketball to be played. Little went right for Campus Magnet (24-5) after halftime. Increasing their pressure and getting out in transition, Boys & Girls’ bread and butter, the Kangaroos cruised in the second half, out-scoring Campus Magnet 43-16 and went on to end the Cambria Heights school’s season, 68-50.
“I feel bad, but they just worked harder,” senior guard Mennon Chavis, who scored 16 points in his final high school game. “Our intensity just dropped. Some of the guys just gave up.”
The Bull-Dogs committed 17 second-half turnovers against the press. Instead of beating it and settling in for a set play, they either lost possession or rushed shots, playing into the Brooklyn school’s hands.
“We weren’t patient enough,” Campus Magnet Coach Charles Granby said. “It got into that up-and-down game which we can’t play with them. They got us going helter skelter. We knew how to play them, but we got careless.”
Cardozo was eliminated by a Brooklyn school, too, falling to No. 4 Thomas Jefferson, 61-55, in another quarterfinal. The fifth-seeded Judges, who blew an eight-point halftime lead, were undone by an eight-point fourth quarter.
Trinity Fields led the way with 16 points, but had only two after the first quarter. Marquis Grant and Dennis Oglesby, who was the only player to sink a field goal in the final stanza, each added 10.
Fields, who scored a career-high 42 in an opening round double overtime victory over Canarsie, another Brooklyn foe, “might’ve worn down” from carrying the Judges all year, Cardozo Coach Ron Naclerio said. “It just seemed he didn’t have the same zig and zag to get open. He was a little sluggish.”
When Keith Spellman, the Orange Wave’s leading scorer, fouled out early in the fourth quarter, the Judges seemed to be in good shape. However, freshman Davontay Grace (16 points) sank a pivotal tie breaking 3-pointer with 1:30 remaining and Cardozo failed to execute down the stretch.
